[Solved] WD external hard drive won't mount on Mac

I have a 1 TB WD external HD that won't mount. I connect it via firewire to my MacBook Pro running OS 10.13 High Sierra. My mac sees the drive, it just won't mount. I've also tried to mount it via USB, but again, my system sees the drive, but won't mount it. Does anyone have any suggestion what I can do?

Generally, when you connect a WD, Seagate, Toshiba, or Samsung external hard drive to Mac, the OS automatically mounts the disk on Mac, then you can perform read and write operations on it. Alternatively, you can also select the disk and click on Mount to make it accessible by the operating system using Disk Utility.

However, hard drive problems may happen that your WD external hard drive won't mount on Mac, usually when you desperately need to access some stored data, such as com.apple.DiskManagement.disenter error 49153. Remain calm, all data on WD external hard drive is still there. This article will explain how to fix WD My Passport not mounting/showing up/recognized/detected.

Table of Contents:

• 1. Must-do before fixing WD external hard drive won't mount Mac
• 2. WD external hard drive won't mount on Mac, how to fix it?
• 3. 5 Reasons of WD external hard drive won't mount on Mac
• 4. FAQ about WD external hard drive won't mount Mac

Must-do before fixing WD external hard drive won't mount Mac

Because we can't know what reason leads to the unmounted problem of the WD drive, having all data stored on the unmounted disk in advance is critical. Or data loss might happen during the professional repair process. 

Provided that WD external hard drive won't mount, you need data recovery software to recover lost data from an unmountable external hard drive. iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery is able to recover lost data from unmountable, unreadable, corrupted, and inaccessible external hard drives, hard drives, USB flash drives, SD cards, memory cards, etc. 

It supports recovery documents, photos, music files, videos, and emails on macOS 13 Ventura/macOS 12 Monterey/macOS 11 Big Sur /macOS Catalina 10.15/Mojave 10.14/High Sierra 10.13/Sierra 10.12/10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7 and works fine on M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max Mac.

With an intuitive and user-friendly interface, it's a piece of cake to utilize iBoysoft Data Recovery Software to fetch the data on the unmounted WD external hard drive.

WD external hard drive won't mount on Mac, how to fix it?

WD external hard drive not mounting on Mac trouble occurs due to kinds of reasons, you can get 4 effective methods to get it fixed! Each way is elaborated and you can make it clear no matter whether you're a noob or an old hand to macOS. Let's get started then!

Solution 1: Force mount WD external hard drive/WD My Passport

When the WD external hard drive or WD My Passport drive doesn't mount on your Mac automatically after connection, just go to Disk Utility to mount it manually.

Step 1: Launch Disk Utility on your Mac with Spotlight Search or Mac Launchpad.

Step 2: Click the View button and select Show All Devices to make sure your can force mount your external drive.

Step 3: Select your WD external hard drive in the left sidebar.

Step 4: Click the Mount button on the Disk Utility top toolbar.

Solution 2: Connect the WD external hard drive to another device

If you have an alternative macOS computer at hand, connecting the unmounted external hard drive to it is worth a shot. Sometimes, an external hard drive works improperly on a Mac while it works fine on another.

Make use of a proper adapter to bridge the WD hard drive and Mac to see if the drive mounts successfully. If not, professional methods to solve the WD My Passport for Mac not mounting issue are indispensable. Just keep reading to try the 2 following methods.

Solution 3: Run Disk Utility to repair the WD external hard drive

If you fail to force mount the WD external hard drive, running Disk Utility First Aid to repair the disk is a wonderful solution. Disk Utility First Aid is able to fix tiny corrupted file systems on your Mac without a hitch. Read the following content to know how to perform that work.

Step 1: Launch Disk Utility on your device.

Step 2: Choose the unmountable WD external hard drive in the Disk Utility main window.

Step 3: Select First Aid in the top center and click Run. 

Step 4: Wait until Disk Utility notifies you that the operation is successful or the disk has been repaired.

Then you can go to check if the WD external hard/WD My Passport drive is mounted on your Mac. If not, I guess that you have to reformat it and give it a new file system to make it function normally.

Solution 4: Reformat to fix WD My Passport not mounting

If sometimes, the Disk Utility may not function as desired. In this situation, the only solution is to format the external hard drive on Mac. But reformatting will remove all data on the disk. 

In order to avoid data loss, you're recommended to recover the inaccessible data on the drive first. Utilizing iBoysoft Data Recovery Software to recover lost data is perfect if you have no backup of the unmounted drive.

Fix WD external hard drive not mounting/showing up/recognized/detected on Mac by reformatting

Hope this tutorial can help to fix WD external hard drive not mounting/showing up/recognized/detected on Mac. If your WD external hard drive is not recognized on Windows, it is also easy to be fixed. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

5 Reasons of WD external hard drive won't mount on Mac

There are kinds of reasons that might cause WD external hard drive won't mount on Mac, this article is going to list some of them and you can have a look real quick so that you know how to get the trouble fixed in some cases.

• Poor connection between Mac and WD external hard drive
• WD external hard drive's file system is incompatible with Mac
• WD external hard drive's file system is corrupted
• An outdated driver of the WD external hard drive 
• WD external hard drive is failed or damaged

Note that these reasons can cause the external hard drive not showing up on Mac as well so take them into consideration when you solve the external drive not showing on Mac issue.

Wrap up

The WD external hard drive not mounting Mac annoys a lot for it hampers your business on Mac. This tutorial tells you how to fix the WD external hard drive won't Mac in 4 methods and you can utilize iBoysoft Data Recovery software to grab the inaccessible data on the unmounted drive. Feel it is informative? Try it now!

FAQ about WD external hard drive won't mount Mac